The Leaf Village was definitely a welcoming sight and I breathed a sigh of relief as I came upon the huge green gates that served as an entrance to the gigantic village.

Jumping off the branch I had paused on, I braced myself as my feet touched the ground, couching slightly due to the ten foot drop. Straightening myself, I let out a huge yawn before walking forward, pulling the traveling papers out my pocket and looking over them. It was just normal traveling papers, no names written on them which I found odd, but still. Then again, it was probably quickly done and poorly handled, seeing as she probably wasn’t the only kid that had abandoned the village after hearing about the near decree.

Walking into the gates, I glanced around before seeing two gate keepers. Walking over, I glanced between the two older Chunin, both with brown hair though one had a darker hue, before handing the papers to the only conscious one. The other one was taking a snooze, several things being stuck to his person by his companion no doubt. The awake one had his bangs covering one eye while the other was reading over the papers critically before handing them back over.

“Thank you, and welcome to Konohagakure. There any questions you need answered?”

“Yeah, how do I get an audience with the Hokage?”

The guy narrowed his eyes. “What for?”

“I need to submit a request. I wanna become a Leaf ninja.” Nodding, the guy looked over me for a few seconds before shrugging and standing, leaning his upper body away from the counter so that he could see down the main street.

Lifting an arm up, he pointed to a large red and white building that was at the base of the Hokage monument that was carved into the side of the building. “That’s the Hokage’s office, as well as the Academy. Ask the receptionist and she should get you an appointment immediately.”

Nodding, I thanked him before heading down the path, my stomach growling loudly yet again as I felt the hunger come back, but not the fatigue, luckily. I probably had about two hours before I would run out of any energy, and it was unhealthy to stay up any longer without rest.

Pulling a granola bar from my weapons pouch, I ate it as I walked, only finishing it when I got to the front entrance of the building. Walking up to the lady sitting behind an organized desk, I glanced around uncertainly for a moment before speaking.

“Um….excuse me?” The lady looked up from where she was typing and smiled warmly.

“What do you need, dear?”

“I was wondering if I could speak with the Hokage?” I questioned, tilting my head innocently. The woman nodded, pulling open a log book and glancing over it before gesturing to a flight of stairs directly to the left.

“Follow that all the way up and the Hokage’s office will be on the right.”

Nodding, I thanked her before doing as I told. Panting slightly as I finished climbing the steps, I walked over to the door and knocked, waiting for an answer patiently.

“Come in.” An old voice called and after taking a deep breath I turned the handle and walked into the office, noticing four people in the room. The only one I focused on, however, was the old man that sat behind a large desk, the Hokage hat balanced on his head while he was dressed in the traditional white and red robes.

“What is it, child?” He questioned, his eyebrows scrunching together as he stared at me. I stared at him for a moment before tilting my head in a resemblance of a bow, having seen people do it when talking to the Sherukage – though they had actually gone down to their knees and had their nose touching the ground.

“Lord Hokage, my name is Ikimono Tsukuru and I have come to Konohagakure to humbly offer my servitude as a ninja to your village. I have fled from my original home in Sherugakure and would happily oblige in giving key information about my ex-village in exchange for joining your ranks.”

There was silence and I glanced up under my eyelashes to see him staring at me in surprise. Glancing to the left quickly, I caught sight of the three others also staring at me in surprise. It was weird, any emotion that I had ever seen was usually accompanied with disgust or annoyance.

I had ignored it at the gates, and with the receptionist, but it seemed that those three people had looked at me without the contempt I was used to. And now these four were doing the exact same.

Snapping back to attention as the Hokage spoke, my eyes darted back to him as I listened intently. “….well, Ikimono-san, it seems we’ll have a few things to talk about. Take a seat for a moment.” He gestured to the two comfy chairs positioned in front of his desk and I stared at them in confusion before looking back at the Hokage.

He nodded his head and I hesitantly stepped forward, my eyes stuck to the floor as I sat on the very edge of the seat. My entire body was tense and I kept my other senses alert in preparation for the oncoming abuse. I wasn’t allowed on the furniture, seeing as it was for humans and I was only a freak. That’s what my mother would always tell me, and I’d only met one person who contradicted her.

“Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, you’re dismissed.”

Frowning, I risked a glance back to the other three people in the room only to see them disappear in three puffs of smoke. Turning back, I faced the Hokage and felt my tail tighten around my stomach in apprehension. This was the strongest ninja in Konoha.

“So, Ikimono-san